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Patrick Francis Healy

1834–1910

United States

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Biography

Patrick Francis Healy (February 27, 1834 – January 10, 1910) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who was an influential president of Georgetown University, becoming known as its "second founder". The university's flagship building, Healy Hall, bears his name. Though he considered himself and was widely accepted as White, Healy was posthumously recognized as the first Black American to earn a PhD, as well as the first to enter the Jesuit order and to become the president of a predominantly White university.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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